Local Pastors Seek Healing In Wake Of Trayvon Martin Trial

Photo Credit: Werth Media

Less than a week after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, rallies were held throughout the United States calling for 'Justice for Trayvon.' Although a Sanford, Florida jury did not find Zimmerman guilty in Trayvon's death, millions of Americans feel that justice has not been realized in the case.

In the aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon and its subsequent trial, a number of issues connected to this tragedy have been the focus of intense media coverage. Although many consider the era in which we currently live to be "post racial", the death of Trayvon has re-ignited national discussions on gun control, racial profiling, homicide rates of young black men and the differing views of the criminal justice system which exist within the white and black communities.

If we have learned anything from the events surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin, it is that we do not all view the world the same way. Even within the Christian community, self-professed followers of Jesus Christ do not agree on who was at fault in Trayvon's death nor what justice looks like in the midst of the Zimmerman's acquittal.

However, a small group of Central Florida pastors, along with some other Christian leaders from other parts of the country, are seeking to listen to one another in order to help facilitate healing both in Sanford and in the rest of the country. Jeff Kunerth of The Orlando Sentinel provides insight:

"A group of black and white Sanford-area pastors united by the shooting death of Trayvon Martin reconvened Wednesday for a racial-reconciliation forum they hope will spread nationwide. They hope Sanford, which did not experience violence after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, will provide a model for other cities. 

"I contend that Sanford, Florida, will be the place people will point to and say, 'These people have learned how to do it,'" said Raleigh Washington, president of the Denver-based Promise Keepers. 

About 30 ministers — including pastors from Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington — attended the forum at Charisma Media in Lake Mary with hopes of launching a national Reconciliation and Relationship Initiative. The group drafted The Sanford Declaration, which could be used for multiracial forums in other cities.

"Our real vision is to encourage this kind of dialogue all over the country," said Steve Strang, CEO of Charisma Media, who has scheduled a news conference today to announce the group's plans for the nationwide initiative. The press conference will be at 10:30 a.m. outside First Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 700 S. Elm Ave., Sanford.

Key to The Sanford Declaration is a commitment to form friendships, fellowships and relationships between pastors that transcend race and culture. Several of the pastors said that without the death of Trayvon Martin, they never would have become close friends with ministers of a different race. 

"A horrible tragedy has brought us together, has slapped us upright and said there's a history here," said Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood. "The inertia of history can only be interrupted by relationships." 

However, the Rev. Harry Rucker, pastor of First Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, argued that Sanford remains essentially unchanged despite the closer ties between black and white ministers. 

"We're united, we're together, but racism still exists," Rucker said."

In light of the many ways that black and white Christians can often misunderstand one another, dialogue and relationship building across racial lines are a great place to start the healing process. When we enter into the world of another with the intent to understand where they are coming from (and not simply to just let our opinions be heard), trust and reconciliation can begin to take place. Our distrust of one another often occurs because we simply don't know each other. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the following:

"We often hate each other because we fear each other; we fear each other because we don’t know each other; we don’t know each other because we can not communicate; we can not communicate because we are separated."

Christians of differing persuasions coming together for dialogue can help facilitate the healing in a racially divided community and nation. It doesn't mean we all have to act the same or think alike... or even agree with one another. But in order to be unified within the family of God, we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and listen to those different from us. I pray that this tragedy may become a catalyst for lasting unity among Christians in Central Florida...and beyond.

To read complete coverage from The Orlando Sentinel on Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, please click here.

Which Countries Send The Most Christian Missionaries?

Photo Credit: TransformGrace

From Christianity Today:

"The Center for the Study of Global Christian (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary calculates that Christians sent out approximately 400,000 international missionaries in 2010. And nearly half of the world's top missionary-sending countries are now located in the global South. 

The CSGC reports that "of the ten countries sending the most missionaries in 2010, three were in the global South: Brazil, South Korea, and India." Other notable missionary senders included South Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, China, Colombia, and Nigeria. 

However, the United States still tops the chart by far in terms of total missionaries, sending 127,000 in 2010 compared to the 34,000 sent by No. 2-ranked Brazil. 

But examine the data differently—in terms of missionaries sent per million church members—and Palestine comes out on top at 3,401 sent, followed by Ireland, Malta, and Samoa (Interestingly, South Korea ranks No. 5 at 1,014 missionaries sent per million church members, a sign of the continued strength of its missions movement compared to the No. 9-ranked United States at 614 missionaries sent). 

The CSGC says U.S. dominance is part of a persistent missions imbalance: "The 10 countries that sent the most international missionaries in 2010 were home to 32 percent of the world's church members but sent almost 73 percent of all international missionaries." 

Meanwhile, most missionaries continue to go to mostly Christian nations. "The 'top nine' receiving countries were home to only 3.5% of the world's non-Christians but received more than 34% of all international missionaries," notes the CSGC. "All nine have Christian majorities, and they were home to over 34% of the world's Christians in 2010." 

By contrast, "The ten countries with the most non-Christians in 2010 were home to 73% of all non-Christians globally. Because many of them restrict or deny missionary access, however, they received only 9% of all international missionaries," notes the CSGC. The lion's share are in China, India, and Nigiera, where "large numbers of home missionaries also work among non-Christians." 

The country that received the most missionaries in 2010? The United States, with 32,400 sent from other nations."

To read the rest of the article please click here.

Has The Term 'Caucasian' Lost Its Usefulness?

Photo Credit: MyTudut

In a recent article, Shaila Dewan of The New York Times raises an intriguing question about whether the term 'Caucasian' is still a useful way to describe those of us of European descent. Personally, I'm not that fond of the term so I appreciate this dialogue.

Dewan offers the following background on the term:

"The use of Caucasian to mean white was popularized in the late 18th century by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German anthropologist, who decreed that it encompassed Europeans and the inhabitants of a region reaching from the Obi River in Russia to the Ganges to the Caspian Sea, plus northern Africans. He chose it because the Caucasus was home to “the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgians,” and because among his collection of 245 human skulls, the Georgian one was his favorite wrote Nell Irvin Painter, a historian who explored the term’s origins in her book “The History of White People.” 

 In 1889, the editors of the original Oxford English Dictionary noted that the term Caucasian had been “practically discarded.” But they spoke too soon. Blumenbach’s authority had given the word a pseudoscientific sheen that preserved its appeal. Even now, the word gives discussions of race a weird technocratic gravitas, as when the police insist that you step out of your “vehicle” instead of your car. 

“If you want to show that you’re being dispassionate then you use the more scientific term Caucasian,” Ms. Painter said. 

Susan Glisson, who as the executive director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation in Oxford, Miss., regularly witnesses Southerners sorting through their racial vocabulary, said she rarely hears “Caucasian.” “Most of the folks who work in this field know that it’s a completely ridiculous term to assign to whites,” she said. “I think it’s a term of last resort for people who are really uncomfortable talking about race. They use the term that’s going to make them be as distant from it as possible.” 

There is another reason to use it, said Jennifer L. Hochschild, a professor of government and African-American studies at Harvard. “The court, or some clever clerk, doesn’t really want to use the word white in part because roughly half of Hispanics consider themselves white.” She added, “White turns out to be a much more ambiguous term now than we used to think it was.”"

Many of us feel uncomfortable talking about issues of race and the continued use of the term Caucasian may just be one example. Due to our historical legacy within the United States, most of us have an uneasy relationship with the topic of racial identity. We're often not certain of how to refer to one another when describing the racial or ethnic background of others and, truth be told, many of us are unsure how to describe ourselves. We stumble over our words because we don't give much thought to it outside of situations when race is being expressly addressed.

Understanding the historical context for the terms we use when it comes to race is a good thing and provides a foundation for the language we use now and in the future.

To read the rest of the article please click here.

(h/t to TheRoot.com for the link.)